Make A Blanket, Win a Bag

Last year, about this time, Ravelry held their first SoCal event at Unwind. It was fun and my little group of knitting women gathered. I met and became a good friend of Jillian. Mary Heather came into town and I met the rock stars of Ravelry, Jess and Casey.

This year it came around again, our little group considerably smaller. MH was back, Julia knit this amazing piece to wear,


Shan slipped out for the night...Jillian got sick and we missed celebrating our first anniversary of friendship, Lori went to Canada and MJ is gallivanting through France, finding the latest class 5.3 to climb and designing some gorgeous and intriguing patterns, Kat was on the road with family. It was a fun time...though the absent were missed.

This year I was delighted to see the women from Namaste again.

(Kelly last year)
Kelly and Dawn are so funny and wonderful and their banter makes my sides hurt. Kelly insisted she had started a blog, but I was a little hazy from the sparkly pinot and could not find it. I told her she did not know what she was talking about (I think). But the next day, I did find the blog. Apparently I did not know what I was talking about. I am so happy that I did finally find it.

If you are not familar with the Namaste line of bags and accessories, you can see them here. These are local girls with a huge commitment to their business, but they are also caring and lovely individuals. Their latest blog post is a call to arms, well, knitting needles and sewing machines. They are holding a donation event, requesting hand made lap blankets to be given to children at CHLA. They did an awesome event for the Humane Society previously and I love how they just keep going. They are giving away prizes via raffle and I know there some readers here who are talented in creating.


I would love it if you clicked through and read for yourself. The deadline is January 31, which gives one a few weeks to work on a piece. I am working on a flannel blanket with some handwork, another fuzzy and soft fleece and another simple quilted cotton blanket. The request is for the pieces to be at least 24' by 24' which makes for a do-able and quick project. It is not much time, but I think it is just enough.


This January marks one year since Tuesday passed and this making has given me some focus, a place to put the prayers that I have felt welling up as the month moves on. Sometimes, I think it is not my place to grieve so much, for this child that was not mine. But she is a powerful soul, a little one that touched my life deeply and deeply touched the lives of many others. So, again, I would ask that if you can make and you love to make and you want to make, do it. And send your embodiment of love and healing to the women of Namaste so that they can pass it on to little ones that need it.


I am doing it for Tuesday, and her Mama, for me, for the littles that may be battling things that are almost too hard, to horrific to contemplate. I hope that you find a reason to pick up some of your favorite fabric and fiber and send some love their way. Namaste.

Master Cleanse :: Day Five

Help.

I am going to blog some of the less than pleasant aspects of the Cleanse first. Here, on Day 5, I find myself in the fifth day of a headache that is currently wrapping itself around my brain and preventing me from typing in any effective way. It hurts. And I am over it. I have had it since Day 1, but I can usually function okay with a headache. I have found myself reaching for the little orange Motrin that sit on my bedside table more than once, then reminding myself to drink water and leave the pills there...because on a cleanse, well, I think over the counter meds are a bit off limits. I have been using Wonder Oil (a Indo remedy consisting mainly of strong eucalyptus oil), drinking water, getting neck massages. And none of it helps much.

I am a bit surprised at the persistence of the headache as I usually only have one small cup of coffee in the morning, so I did not expect such a lingering (with such a vengeance) of the headache. It is likely due to the absence of the whole lot, the carbs, the coffee, the glass of wine I like to savor. I am not sure it is going to go away during this time.

Good stuff: Not feeling weighed down anymore, not having any type of indigestion and/or other GI stuff, and I have been sleeping so well, without any of the night wakings that have become standard since the twins were born. And with the sleep has come a return of the vivid dreams I used to have before children and total sleep disruption. I always loved my dreams, they have never been terribly exciting or relevant, but I used to wake and recall the whole thing, start to finish. In the last few days this ability has returned and I welcome it.

Another thing; I was worried about energy, you know, the kind required to chase two insane toddlers around, maintain some modicum of a household and work a few hours in the meantime. And I am happy to say there was a lot of energy to go around. I almost feel as if I had more, odd as that may sound. I took less downtime and accomplished a few things I had been meaning to get to. One of which was to jump on the February Lady Bandwagon (I know, not the smoothest knitting segue) and get this to the point where I feel it may be ready for Autumn, when it comes to us (usually in October).


I am using Cascade Yarns Venezia Worsted, it is lovely. It is a solid colored yarn, merino and silk, with a lovely sheen and drape. I think it will be a welcome piece to add to my 'knits I will wear' collection. I can see why so many are enamoured of this pattern. It is simple and fairly quick, the lace repeat easily memorized and the construction looks flattering to all shapes and sizes. I would have loved to try Sundara's worsted weight yarns, but apparently that wagon is long gone. Oh, how I would love to get some (read: all) of the yarns I find through Ravelry and other people's projects and stash.

I think the 5 days of the Cleanse were a good start. It has demystified the process and built my confidence that I can try the 10 day in the future. It has done no harm and made me feel a bit lighter, a bit more conscious of what, how and when I want to eat. I have read that Days 5 to 10 are when the real detox starts, lots of accounts of disgusting tongues and body pain, but I think for now I can say I am done.

My plan for the next three or four days is to do the lemonade for the first part of the day and then introducing a vegetable meal in the afternoon, using the salt water flush every two or three days and then figuring it out from there. I do feel like I am cheating by doing only the 5 days, but I think I am where I need to be for now and I will revisit the Cleanse at a later time.

Next, up, more knitting content and new pictures of my niece Kayda. She really is to die for.

Master Cleanse :: Day Three

I finally went and did it and stayed true to my word. I began the Master Cleanse on Tuesday, following a weekend of fun and festivities. It is long overdue as I have felt stagnant and stopped in many ways, the least of being my digestive track. Or maybe the most, without my true knowledge.

I do not know how many readers here are familiar with the Cleanse, it requires a few days (10 is the suggested amount) of drinking this lemon/maple syrup concoction coupled with a salt water flush that is meant to rid your body of toxins and help reset the digestive clock, so to speak. I read many accounts of the experiences of others and had initially planned to try it when the boys were a few months old. That did not happen. But I had the required items in the pantry; sea salt, grade B maple syrup, fresh lemons from an orchard nearby. I finally took the plunge.

It has not been awful, but it sure ain't what I would call fun. The salt water flush is the worst part. You drink 4 cups salt warm water that is intended to flush your intestines etc. of internal, um, stuff. It does. Nuff said.

The lemon drink acts as your daily 'food' and is the agent to cleanse, supposedly. I love the way it tastes, just fresh and sweet (almost too sweet) and you basically drink a glass whenever you get hungry and chase it with some nice cold glasses of water to keep your system hydrated.

It sounds kind of crazy when I write it down. I have never done a cleanse before and thought this sounded the easiest to do, it costs almost nothing and the reports, though varied, seem to be fairly positive. So, as for working? Well, on Day Three, here are some reflections:

- It makes me really appreciate food. Good food. I have some pretty intense cravings to eat. I want veggies and fruit and to try some of the recipes that I have seen linked in other blog entries. I should probably stop looking at recipes. Even the stuff Anthony Bourdain was eating on his program looked good.

- I am less hungry than I thought I would be. I realize the lemonade contains quite a few calories due to the maple syrup content (if you drink recommended amounts, it supplies about 800 calories...in sugar...I know. Sounds crazy. But if you read the 40 page dossier, there are a lot of benefits to maple). I have yet to drink the whole amount recommended, they say 6-8 glasses.

- It also makes me realize just how much (or little) I need to put into my mouth. I am simultaneously reading In Defense of Food by Pollan, wherein he talks on how to eat in this new era of food production. There is a lot to be said for limiting our intake. Might actually be the key to health, not low fat, not high fiber, just less food.

- My skin is clearing up. I usually struggle with severely dry skin, a form of chronic eczema that I have never been able to banish (except when pregnant, ahhh, the glorious pregnancy skin). Today, my skin is less painful and dry and cracked. Hmmm. Nice. And another plus, an absence of body order that has become such an issue since pregnancy ended (let us not lie, it was a bit of an issue before, but after, arrrggg). I use Tom's of Maine, but it does little to help at times. These three days I have yet to use Tom's. Interesting, wouldn't you say?

So, a few more days to go. I do not count on making ten days, aiming for about 5 this time around. There is some debate about whether it helps to do the Cleanse for a few days. I am sure anything that can help us break free, even if just a bit, from the Western diet can have some positive effects. I am doing the Cleanse to reset my system, but not truly sure of any other goals. I plan on changing my eating style post-Cleanse, but we will hold off until that time comes.

Until then, hope all is well in blogland. Been a bit quiet around here in the comments. Would a picture help?


Owen modeling a botched Xmas gift. (Rav) It was meant for an adult male. Whoops. Second one came out better. More on knitting later.

P.S. Katie, I just got a box in the mail. Going to open it now.

Calmer, sweet. Thanks, K. :)